


I Can’t Hear You, Are you Complaining?

by Wolfcry22



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Awesome Dean Winchester, Brotherly Love, Coughing, Dean Winchester Takes Care of Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester is Sam Winchester's Parent, Ear infection, Embarrassed Sam Winchester, Fever, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, Protective Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester Whump, Sick Character, Sick Sam Winchester, Sickfic, Sinus Infection, Sneezing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25284034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfcry22/pseuds/Wolfcry22
Summary: Sam has an ear infection on top of a cold and near-constant sinus pressure headaches, and every time he sneezes it hurts so much.
Relationships: Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Comments: 1
Kudos: 93





	I Can’t Hear You, Are you Complaining?

**Author's Note:**

> Here is another story on my hurt/comfort fix with a very sick Sam and a protective Dean. I would think that this story would take place in the early seasons, but I suppose it could go wherever you like in the series. I just really enjoy their relationship in the earlier seasons the best. I hope you all enjoy!

"Dude, what the heck are you doing?" 

Sam would've looked over at Dean, but the pressure in his head would just shift and he couldn't take the pain. He sat in bed as straight as he could with his thumb and forefinger squeezing his nose shut. The absent tickle had returned with a vengeance and the absolute worst thing that Sam could think of doing in this moment was sneezing. It would be painful, loud, and would send not only his sinuses, but his ears, over the edge. He didn't think that he could handle it. 

"Nothing," Sam commented. 

Dean rose from his bed and sat beside Sam on his. He looked into his brother's slightly feverish gaze before he reached out to place his hand on Sam's forehead to check just how high it was. 

Sam didn't dart back—he didn't dare—but he did almost growl at him. "Stop! Don't touch me!”

"I know that a sinus infection sucks, as does an ear infection. I can't imagine getting them together, but you holding your nose shut isn't helping," Dean insisted. 

"It's better than sneezing," Sam argued as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "That hurts." 

"And that doesn't," Dean flashed as he grabbed Sam's hand by his wrist and tried to pry it away from his nose. Sam gasped and Dean immediately stopped without releasing Sam’s wrist. "What?" 

Sam sucked in a breath. "It hurts, Dean. I don't think you get it." 

"I probably don't. I've never had a cold, sinus infection, and ear infection at the same time, but I imagine it sucks. Although, keeping all that gunk and congestion in your nose isn't helping either," Dean chided like the big brother he was. 

Sam's eyes teared up. "But, then I'm going to sneeze. It's going to hurt.” 

"Better than just holding it for days on end. Come on, kiddo. I'll grab you some tissues and we can see if we can make you feel a bit better, okay," Dean asked like Sam was five years old again. 

Sam sucked at his bottom lip before nodding. Dean helped him pry his fingers from Sam's nose before Sam's hitching breaths ensued. Dean knew what that meant and so did Sam. Dean looked around their small motel room for the tissues and found them on one of the tables. He passed them over to Sam and not a second too soon.   
  
Sam plucked a handful of the tissues out of the box and shot forward. 

"Hetuchshoo! HtuehchSoo! HutshshsHSHoo!"

The sneezes were loud and majorly productive. In fact, the tissues that Sam had couldn't contain it. It seeped through his hands some sticky yellowish, almost green discharge. Dean tried not to look at it as he offered more tissues to his brother. Sam tried to clean himself up, but his nose was raw and sore from the treatment it had had in the past few days. Tears almost fell from his eyes as he lifted a hand and touched his ear gingerly. 

"Hurt," Dean asked, even though he knew that answer.

Sam frowned. "I god do blow by dose," he told Dean.

"Alright, go ahead," Dean told him. He wasn't sure why Sam was telling him that. It wasn't like he needed to know. 

"My ear," Sam wheezed as he lifted a hand to his ear. He used the other hand to blow his nose as hard as he could. Once he was finished he let out almost a scream as he grabbed at his ear, pawing and rubbing at it.

Dean battered his ear away before he pressed the palm of it against Sam's ear. Sam didn't stop squirming entirely, but at least he stopped screaming. If they were kicked out of this motel then Dean had no idea where they would go. A car was no place for a sick brother and that would be what they would be looking at.

"Alright, we good," Dean asked as he lifted some of the pressure from Sam's ear.

Sam groaned. "Not really."

Dean snapped his fingers, causing Sam to wince. "Sorry. But, I think I have an idea. Lay back. I'm going to help with both of your problems." 

Sam appeared skeptical, but it wasn't like he had anything else he could try. He started to lay back, pausing to catch his breath as the pressure continued to change. He pressed against the sides of his nose, causing a thin line of mucus to run from his nose. He did nothing about it since he was too busy massaging it.

Dean headed into the bathroom and grabbed two washcloths. He turned on the sink to the hottest setting it had. He ran the two washclothes under it before he headed back into the bedroom. He walked over to the kitchenette and grabbed some ice cubes. Sam watched him from where he lay with confusion on his face.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you," answered Dean as he came back over with all that he had. "Do you think that this is my first rodeo? You may not have had all these things together, but you've had them all before." 

"What are you doing," Sam asked once more. 

Dean sat down on the edge of Sam's bed and looked him in the eye. "I told you, helping you. Now, I'm going to put this hot washcloth over your face, on your sinuses. It should alleviate some of the pressure that you're feeling," Dean explained as he folded the washcloth so that it was just over Sam's sinuses, but he could still see partially. 

Sam winced at the sudden heat before it started to alleviate the pressure and at least some of the congestion. Dean raised the other one to show Sam. "This one is for that ear. I'm supposed to alternate between cold and hot, so I have ice. Ran out of washcloths, but maybe bandannas will work."

Sam suddenly shifted uncomfortably and Dean rested a hand on his chest. "Hurt, Sammy?"

Sam shook his head. "Gonna sneeze. Don't eh....want to!" 

"I'm sorry, but I don't think that you have a choice," Dean pointed out as he rested the box of tissues against Sam's hand so that he knew where they were and where to grab them.

Sam bit his lip. "But, it's gonna, eh..huh...hurt!"

"I know, but there's nothing that you can do about it. I'm sorry," Dean told him sympathetically as he lifted the hot compress from his sinuses. "Just sneeze and then we'll continue. It's supposed to loosen that gunk up." 

Sam's nose twitched like a rabbit’s as his chest inflated. His breath came in hitching gasps while he fumbled for the tissues. Unfortunately, he didn't get them there in time. 

"Hutcshhsosoo! Htucshsosow! Hutchsooo!"

"Bless you," offered Dean as he watched snot stream from Sam's nose. Sam didn't bother to wipe it away. He just turned to look at Dean, moaning as he grabbed at his ear again. 

Dean battered his hand away and took the tissues from Sam's hand. He looked at his brother before he looked away. "I can't believe I'm doing this. Just don't sneeze on me," Dean growled as he cleaned up Sam's nose and face to the best of his ability. He threw the tissues away and grabbed the compress again. "We good? You not going to sneeze again?"

Sam gave a small sniff through his nose. "Nope, I'm okay," he told his brother. 

Dean placed the compress back over his face before he took the other one and pressed it against his ear. Sam hissed in pain, slowly relaxing into his brother’s touch. Dean lifted his other hand and ran his fingers through Sam's sweaty hair. "See, was that so bad?"

Sam shot daggers at him, but it was difficult to look threatening in his condition. "Don't start," Sam rasped pathetically. 

"I didn't say anything! I'm just trying to help," Dean sympathized as he continued to massage Sam's scalp. He knew that Sam probably had a sinus headache too, even if he wasn't telling him. When Sam got sick, he got sick bad.

They just laid there in silence for a while before Dean switched out the hot washcloth against Sam's ear and pressed some ice again it. Sam flinched, but Dean kept his pressure light, just to try and numb a little of the pain away. It always seemed to work when Sam was younger.

"Dean!" 

Dean's eyes widened in surprise as he looked down at Sam. "Yeah, kiddo?”

"Ugh, again," Sam whimpered as he withered ever so slightly, his brow wrinkling in distain and disagreement at what his nose wanted. He licked at his dry lips, squeezing his eyes shut and turning completely away from Dean.

"And what's that going to solve," Dean chided as he gingerly pulled Sam's head back so that he was looking straight at the ceiling. 

Sam gasped in pain. "Dean, I don't want to sneeze again," Sam complained as he sucked in a massive breath. 

"Again, you don't have a choice." Dean tilted his head. "But, I can help, just like always. Awesome brother to the rescue!"

Dean grabbed a handful of tissues and made sure that they wouldn't be too rough on Sam's sensitive skin. He pressed it against Sam's twitching nostrils with his other hand still pressed against Sam ear. "Okay, Sammy, I'm here." 

"Gonna eh...hurt!"

"I've heard that before. I know, but you can't do this. Just let go, Sammy," Dean chided.

"Katcshshsoo! Hutcshsosoo!"

Sam rocketed forward with each sneeze. Dean pressed the ice harder against Sam's ear with each sneeze as he tried to help in anyway that he knew how. He was sure it didn't do anything since Sam let out almost a wail afterwards. He wretched sideways to grab at his ear and Dean let Sam go. 

Sam withered on the bed for a minute or so before Dean felt his body relax against him. Dean rubbed small circles on his back to calm him down. Sam let out a few chesty coughs before Dean was able to coax him back on his back. He looked up at Dean with unblinking eyes, licking his still chapped lips. 

"You okay," Dean asked. 

Sam didn't say anything. He let out a breath through his clogged nose as a bubble of snot started to run down his face. Sam sniffed, but it did nothing. The flow just continued.

Dean wordlessly started to clean Sam up again. Sam tried to pull away, but Dean was much stronger than Sam, especially when he was sick. "Just relax."

"It hurts, Dean," Sam cried out. "It hurts."

"I have one more idea, but I'm not sure you're going to like it," Dean told him when he threw the tissue away. He patted Sam's shoulder since he knew how miserable Sam was. He was going to have to help him, even though he knew that Sam would not enjoy this either. 

He left his brother's side and made his way over the bathroom. He had picked up a few things when Sam had first turned up sick. They weren't nearly strong enough for what he had, but they had helped a bit. However, what he wanted wasn't for Sam to drink. It was something to actually go in Sam's ear to try and clean it out. What he wanted was hydrogen peroxide. He found it rather quickly and managed to find a syringe as well. He had picked it up just for this moment. He knew that Sam was probably going to freak when he saw it, but at least it should make him feel better.

Dean disappeared back into the room and came over to Sam, who was sprawled out on the bed with his arm draped over his face as he moaned. Dean punched his arm and Sam grumbled as he lifted it and looked at Dean. One glance at the syringe had him sitting up, which was a horrible idea. The pressure shifted one more and Sam reached up to grab at his nose. 

"Hutchsoo!" 

"Easy there," chided Dean as he stretched out the tissue box as Sam moaned and groaned, immediately collapsing back down. 

Dean rubbed at his shoulder. "Yep, don't look too shocked." He looked down at the syringe. "Don't worry. I'm not going to drain your brain or anything. I'm just going to put some hydrogen peroxide in this and squirt some in that ear of yours. It'll bubble a bit, but I think that it'll help."

"We've tried everything else," pointed out Sam as he sniffled. "Let's just get this over with, please? Do I have to do anything special?" 

"Lay on your side. I'll squirt a bit in and then in ten minutes you're going to wash it out," Dean explained.

Sam complied and sighed heavily. He closed his eyes before he allowed Dean to smooth back his hair and squirt some of the hydrogen peroxide into his ear. Sam hissed in surprise that sounded just like the hydrogen peroxide sizzling in his ears.

"Just stay there, Sammy," Dean told him as he pressed the hot compress against his ear and held it there tightly. "So, I thought that after we try this we should have a John Wayne marathon."

"Works for me," wheezed Sam as he tried to swallow a few coughs that bubbled up inside him. "Um, Dean, can I ask you a question?" 

"No," Dean replied in amusement.

"What happens when you sneeze with this in your ear," Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "Not sure. I mean, it's never happened with me, but I do know that your ears, nose, and mouth are all connected, so-"

"Htucshshoo! Hutcshoshoo!"

Sam jolted forward before he gagged. Dean tried to hold him as steady as possible as he watched the faint spray land on the bed spread. Dean grimaced before Sam coughed painfully like he was trying to spit something up. He gagged painfully.

"Sam, what are you doing," Dean gasped as he looked at his still sputtering little brother.

"It's in my mouth," Sam replied as he coughed again. "Ugh! That's what happens when you sneeze with hydrogen peroxide in your ear."

Dean handed him some more tissues and Sam lifted his arm to easily rub at his nose. "Only a few more minutes. Then we'll drain it, but you're going to need to get up for that, okay?" 

"Do I have much of a choice," asked Sam as he let out another cough. 

Dean shook his head. "Nope!"

"Fine then," sniffled Sam as he rubbed his nose up and down the edge of the comforter on the motel bed. "Just tell me when I have to get up."

Dean waited a few more minutes before he nudged Sam's shoulder. "Alright, buddy. It's time to rinse that out. You still with me?"

"Yeah," growled Sam as Dean lifted the hot compress from his ear and helped him sit up. Sam stood, but he almost fell backwards. Dean gripped his arm to stop him from falling backwards. 

"Easy. Take it slow," urged Dean as he helped Sam walk toward the bathroom. "Besides, you're going to need to tilt your head to get that out over the sink. I just hope that we can collectively made it there."

Sam tried to fend Dean off, but Dean held on tightly. "I'm fine."

"Uh huh. Why is it that anytime you tell me that I don't believe you," Dean joked as he helped Sam to the bathroom. Once he got there he started the sink before he helped Sam tip his head so that it could drain. It dripped into the sink in a steady trickle, but mostly ended up on his shirt. He grumbled to himself, he coughing painfully, doubling over the sink.

Dean helped Sam straighten up and gripped his shoulders to steady him. "Easy, easy," chided Dean as Sam continued to cough and hack. It sounded painful and all Dean could do was thump Sam on the back as best as he could. 

"I'm okay," Sam breathed as he gave one more pathetic cough into the sink. "Just had to regain my breath." 

"Okay. Sit down and tilt your head. I need to flush it out," Dean explained as he sat him on the edge of the toilet. Sam slumped slightly against the sink, letting out a loud sneeze that caused Dean to jump. 

"Hutcshshoo!"

"Bless you," Dean called over his shoulder as he stretched out a hand and filled the syringe with water. "Okay. This isn't going to feel much better, probably like you're underwater. But, considering that it beats the aching ear, it shouldn't be that bad."

Sam lifted his head as Dean pushed it sideways. He moved his hair once more before he squirted the water in his ear. Sam drew away sharply, but Dean kept going. Once he was finished, Sam tilted his head back over the sink before he lifted the edge of his shirt and wiped at his ear. 

"Better," Dean asked hopefully. 

Sam grimaced. "I guess, but I don't think that I want to sneeze again anytime soon."

"I get that, but you might not have a choice. It'll be over soon, though. I'm sure of it," Dean told him as he helped him to his feet. "Come on, Sasquatch. Let's get you to bed. I think that you've earned it.

Sam leaned almost his entire body weight on Dean and Dean pressed a hand against his chest and the other on his shoulder to keep him from falling on his face. "You good?"

Sam suddenly turned his head and sneezed heavily, almost falling forward once more. 

"Hutchshshoo! Hucshshoo!"

Dean stumbled as he tried to keep Sam from face planting against the stained motel floor. Sam immediately whimpered in agony. "Ow. Ow!"

"Yeah, that sounded like it hurt," Dean sympathized as he helped Sam sit on the edge of the bed. "Bless you by the way." 

Sam slumped back on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair. "This sucks." 

Dean rolled his eyes before he slumped down on the edge of Sam's bed. Dean nudged Sam shoulder while Sam lowered his hands from his head and blinked his eyes slowly. "Can't you do anything else except stare at me?"

"I could. Actually, I know what I can do. Lay back and close your eyes," Dean ordered. 

"Dean, I don't—“

"Just shut your pie hole and let me help you. I remember doing something else when you had a sinus headache," Dean too him as he started to rub his fingers in small circles on Sam's forehead. Sam moaned in enjoyment and it wasn't long before the constant kneading of Dean's fingers caused Sam to drift off. 

"Sleep tight. I promise that everything will be better when you wake up."

**Author's Note:**

> I’m a sucker for fluff any day and I keep find myself writing it! I hope everyone liked it and is staying safe and healthy!


End file.
